Cat Exercise - The Fight Against Pet Obesity

After taking my cat Emily to the vet last month I was recommended to purchase a food high in fiber and one for her teeth. So for the last month I have been mixing in the fiber food with her normal kibble and put a handful of the dental food on the top. As these additional foods were purchased from the vet I just assumed that they would be higher grade. I didn't think twice about them.

Emily absolutely devoured the dental kibble on the top of the dish whenever I put a handful in, and she was very happy with the fiber kibble mixed in too. I thought it was great that she liked the dental kibble because it helps keep her teeth healthy.

Well she is now off the supplemental food because she has put on noticeable weight. Emily has never been a chubby kitty, so I was surprised to see that she looked so "fluffy" all of a sudden. She apparently likes the dental kibble a little too much. She is an older cat of 16 years and has arthritis in her shoulder from an old injury, so I knew the weight would start to affect her mobility and health.

She is now has an exercise regime. Once a day she gets at least a half an hours play. I have to get quite creative to keep her going that long. She plays with a laser pointer, and will run up and down the hall chasing it (my husband likes to point it at the sleeping dog as well). She also has a peacock feather and she will attack it for a nice long time. Once in a while she gets some catnip. She gets all worked up and will wrestle and play chase with her sister. Also the old yarn method always works. We create a path/obstacle course through the house. We set up the course by running it down the hall and up through the bed covers and over the table and so on. Once the course is set we just put the yarn. Its so cute as she turns commando and tunnels thru the bed covers and stalks through the house.

I am happy to say that her weight is improving and it won't be long before she is back to her normal weight.

I would love to hear anyone else's exercise tips or stories about weight management. This is quite a serious health concern that many owners need to deal with, and extra ideas are helpful.